Welcome Home Elienor
by The Little Penniless Writer
Summary: It was the fault of her father that she had a debt to pay. That debt was her life. No longer would she be the beggar on the streets selling matches, but instead a loyal servant to a man that hid within the shadows. [Beauty & The Beast/The Little Match Girl Retelling]


Dark rosemary purple…Edges worn, fading out in a ugly, sickly yellow. The colors…smeared across her wrists and arms in unique, distinct patterns. And each one held a memory that would bubble and boil over into her dreams, transforming them-twisting them into nightmares , their imagery burning her mind.

But now, she was given the chance for those colors to fade and hopefully never return. It was an ambivalent hope , but it was a hope none the less,and it was something she certainly couldn't take for granted. Hope was something she held closest to her heart, no matter how fleeting they seemed.

Her future from now on was uncertain, she knew this, but that fact in itself was simply relief-For the future she had once imagined herself a few days ago, seemed set in stone. It consisted of a repetitious life of humiliation, anxiety, pain…loneliness. Yet the future she had dreaded would never come to pass, and the dreadful memories that echoed inside her mind would slowly be forgotten-buried underneath a fresh pile of new memories, that she'd soon welcome gladly into her thoughts.

For at this very moment, she was traveling to a new home-A home where evil itself inhabited and the screams of monsters and howling demons would echo within the forests. It was a cursed land. A home for the damned…or so the townsfolk whispered.

But the world was growing dark, cold and distant. Where spite, desperation, and suspicion slowly grew within all hearts-becoming as harsh as the winters that plagued the townsfolk with each passing year. Now there were hushed whispers of war, riding upon the freezing winds, and the apprehension and fear swept through every town, every village, every glorious city…

So the fear of monsters hunting in the night and demons screaming within the forests, did not reside within her as much as the cold fear of war.

Myths of monsters and lands that were damned… did not exist.

But the cruelty of man…and the destruction and pain they were capable of …did.

Looking out the carriage window before her, Elienor gazed upon the crooked birch trees that quickly passed by. All stood tall, but their branches reached out like broken limbs, each twisted and bent as they stretched up towards the evening sky. Gazing down at her pale, bruised arms and then back up at the looming trees above, with their bent branches and their dark unique striped patterns-they seemed all too similar...eerily similar in fact.

As the darkness swiftly began to close in and the fading light slowly peeked through the small gaps of foliage, Elienor had suddenly taken notice of an old woman slowly trudging by the side of the small dirt road. Her spine was crooked and bent, and she wore a dark cloak -A heavy hood covering her features. And as the carriage unmercifully sped past her, Elienor watched as the night engulfed the poor old woman, shrouding her crooked form and the forest in utter darkness and insignificance.

Elienor looked down at her small, thin hands. Outside the forest and the life that she had once lived, she too felt the stinging pain of insignificance and helplessness …Yet as the carriage sped further into the dark forest- Elienor could only hope and pray that the old woman would return home safely. Maybe she had family waiting for her, ready to run up and greet her with open arms-Or perhaps a cozy cottage stood close nearby, ready to shower her with all the comforts of home. Watching her surroundings go pitch black Elienor anxiously held her breath... would her new 'home of the damned' be there to welcome her with open arms? Would there be any smiles to greet her? Any at all? taking a deep breath she stared out into the black void.

Monsters screaming in the night…

Cursed lands…

There was no such thing.

This she knew for certain.

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A/N : Hello there! :3 Thanks for taking the time to read this first chapter, if you like this story so far feel free to click the review and follow button! :3 I'll try my best to post the next upcoming chapter soon-hopefully it'll be much longer. :3 Again thanks for reading!


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